The Roosevelts (film)
| writer = Geoffrey C. Ward | screenplay = | story = | director = Ken Burns | starring = Paul Giamatti, Edward Herrmann, Meryl Streep | narrated = Peter Coyote | theme_music_composer = David Cieri | country = United States | language = English | num_episodes = Seven | producer = Ken Burns Paul Barnes Pam Tubridy Baucom Vivaan Salvi | editor = Paul Barnes Tricia Reidy Erik Ewers Daniel J. White | cinematography = Buddy Squires Allen Moore Nikhilesh Mehra | runtime = | company = Florentine Films | distributor = Public Broadcasting Service | budget = | network = PBS | first_aired = | last_aired = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | website = https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-roosevelts }} The Roosevelts: An Intimate History is a 2014 American documentary film directed and produced by Ken Burns. It covers the lives and times of the Roosevelt family, including Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican and the 26th President of the United States; Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat and the 32nd President of the United States, a cousin of Theodore; and Eleanor Roosevelt, the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, a niece of Theodore who had wed Franklin. As a result of the influence of Theodore and Franklin as Presidents, as well as Eleanor as First Lady, a modern democratic state of equal opportunity was begun in the United States. The documentary film begins with the birth of Theodore in 1858 and ends with the death of Eleanor in 1962. Actors and historians The documentary film is narrated by Peter Coyote. Actors read lines of various historical figures and a series of noted commentators give background information. They include: * Paul Giamatti - Theodore Roosevelt (voice) * Edward Herrmann - Franklin D. Roosevelt (voice) * Meryl Streep - Eleanor Roosevelt (voice) * John Lithgow - James Roosevelt (voice) * Patricia Clarkson - Margaret "Daisy" Suckley (voice) As themselves: * Jonathan Alter * H. W. Brands * Blanche Wiesen Cook * Doris Kearns Goodwin * Edna Gurewitsch * Clay S. Jenkinson * William Leuchtenburg * David McCullough * Jon Meacham * Patricia O'Toole * Geoffrey C. Ward * George Will Other voices include: Adam Arkin, Keith Carradine, Kevin Conway, Ed Harris, Josh Lucas, Carl Lumbly, Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick, Pamela Reed, Billy Bob Thornton, and Eli Wallach. Episodes Reviews and criticism The series premiered to positive reviews and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for Peter Coyote's narration of the first episode. In September 2014, The Roosevelts became the most streamed documentary on the PBS website to date. According to critic James Poniewozik of Time magazine, "The Roosevelts tells the story of the American 20th century in triptych. Teddy (who became President in 1901) is progressivism, expansionism and reform. FDR is the rise of American power and the rewriting of the social contract. (Conservative pundit George Will sums up his legacy: the government would not just 'provide the conditions for the pursuit of happiness' but 'deliver happiness, understood as material well-being.') Eleanor looks ahead to postwar globalism and the move of women and minorities in from the margins." Further, Poniewozik states, "The Roosevelts brings up a kind of nature-nurture question: did these leaders make the times, or did the times make these leaders? It can’t answer this question. But it does manage to tell an educational, emotional story of how these leaders and their times made us." Hank Stuever, critic at The Washington Post, writes, "Let’s start with the end. When it’s over — when you make it through the marathon that is Ken Burns’s beautiful, seven-part documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, ... you may find yourself with a lingering, nebulous grief. You’re sorry it’s over. You’re sorry they’re over. You’re sorry a certain expression of American ideals is, or often appears to be, completely over." One critic of the series, Michelangelo Signorile, wrote in The Huffington Post that the production was entertaining, but noticeably omitted any references to the Newport sex scandal and another scandal involving Sumner Welles. Signorile also criticized Burns' dismissal of a possible sexual relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok as 'tabloid' material. Pulitzer Prize winning historian John Loughey was similarly dismayed that the Newport affair was not included in the series. See also * List of women's rights activists * Political positions of Theodore Roosevelt * Sunrise at Campobello - 1960 film * The Eleanor Roosevelt Story - 1965 biographical documentary film * Eleanor and Franklin - 1976 TV miniseries * Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years - 1977 TV movie * Rough Riders - 1997 TV miniseries * Warm Springs - 2005 TV film * Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site * Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site * US Presidents on US postage stamps References External links * at the PBS WebSite/1. * at the PBS WebSite/2. * [http://kenburns.com/films/roosevelts/ The Roosevelts] at the Ken Burns WebSite. * . * The Roosevelts - Episodes: PBS; TV; VOX. * . * [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22The+Roosevelts%22+PBS The Roosevelts] – video search on Youtube. * [https://www.dailymotion.com/us/relevance/universal/search/%22The+Roosevelts%22+PBS The Roosevelts] – video search on Dailymotion. Category:2014 television films Category:2010s documentary films Category:American films Category:Documentary films about American politicians Category:Documentary films about United States history Category:American documentary television films Category:Films directed by Ken Burns Category:Films set in the United States Category:Films shot in the United States Category:Films about Presidents of the United States Category:Roosevelt family Category:Documentary films about families Category:Eleanor Roosevelt